Category Archives: Personalities

Pearls of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj
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Blessed Teresa in the National Shrine, Washington DC

Statue of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington D.C.

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Anyway

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

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Deeds

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”

“God doesn’t require us to succeed, he only requires that you try.”

“Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly.”

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Dreams

“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”

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Forgiving

“I once picked up a woman from a garbage dump and she was burning with fever; she was in her last days and her only lament was: ‘My son did this to me.’ I begged her: ‘You must forgive your son. In a moment of madness, when he was not himself, he did a thing he regrets. Be a mother to him, forgive him.’ It took me a long time to make her say: ‘I forgive my son.’ Just before she died in my arms, she was able to say that with a real forgiveness. She was not concerned that she was dying. The breaking of the heart was that her son did not want her. This is something you and I can understand.”

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Humbleness

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.”

“If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”

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Life

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”

“A life not lived for others is not a life.”

“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”

“Live simply so others may simply live.”

“Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.”

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Love

“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.”

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.”

“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

“People are unrealistic, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.”

“Work without love is slavery.”

“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”

“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

“I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”

“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”

“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God – the rest will be given.”

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

“Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.”

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

“I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn’t touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.”

“If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.”

“I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?”

“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.”

“Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ rather he will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did?’”

“God made the world for the delight of human beings– if we could see His goodness everywhere, His concern for us, His awareness of our needs: the phone call we’ve waited for, the ride we are offered, the letter in the mail, just the little things He does for us throughout the day. As we remember and notice His love for us, we just begin to fall in love with Him because He is so busy with us — you just can’t resist Him. I believe there’s no such thing as luck in life, it’s God’s love, it’s His.”

“There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives – the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.”

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Patience

“Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually means less.”

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Poverty

“Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.”

“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.”

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

“When you don’t have anything, then you have everything.”

“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.  It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. “

“The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. But we are perfectly happy.”

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Prayer

“Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.”

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”

“If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love; If we love, we will serve.”

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Religion

“There are so many religions and each one has its different ways of following God. I follow Christ:
Jesus is my God,
Jesus is my Spouse,
Jesus is my Life,
Jesus is my only Love,
Jesus is my All in All;
Jesus is my Everything.”

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Sharing

“You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing. Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me. Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me.”

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Smile

“Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

“Peace begins with a smile..”

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

“The person who gives with a smile is the best giver because God loves a cheerful giver.”

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Speaking

“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.”

“Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don’t only give your care, but give your heart as well.”

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Words

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

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The Brooklyn Bridge

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The Brooklyn Bridge, viewed from Manhattan (Photo - Postdlf at the English language Wikipedia)

The Brooklyn Bridge, viewed from Manhattan (Photo: Postdlf at the English language Wikipedia)

On January 3, 1870, construction began on one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States – the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. It was the world’s first steel-wire suspension bridge. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 meters), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903. The bridge spans the East River connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The construction of the bridge was the personal project of John Augustus Roebling, a German born American engineer, who on a cold winter day found the ferry that he took daily to travel from Brooklyn to Manhattan unable to sail across due to the ice covering the East River. Roebling worked on the idea of ​​building a suspension bridge that united both cities (then Brooklyn was not a district belonging to New York).

It took over 13 years, four months and three days, and $15.5 million to construct the bridge. At the time of completion of the construction of the bridge, the tallest building in New York was only 5 feet taller than the bridge’s 276.5-foot towers. Around 27 people died during its construction, including John Roebling.

In 1915, the city government formally named the bridge as the “Brooklyn Bridge” that was originally known as the “New York and Brooklyn Bridge” and as the “East River Bridge.”

Since its opening on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972 has become an icon of New York City. Though this landmark is 128-year-old, it still continues to serve the people of New York.

John Augustus Roebling

Johann August Röbling

John Augustus Roebling, a German engineer, the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge left Prussia with his brother Karl Roebling on May 22, 1831 and migrated to the United States since career advancement were difficult for engineers in the Prussian society.

Roebling House with bridge

John Roebling House with bridge at Saxonburg

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On October 28, 1831, John and Karl purchased 1582 acres (6.4 km²) of land, in Butler County, Pennsylvania with the intent to establish a German farming settlement. They named their land Saxonburg. Instead of following an engineering profession Roebling took up farming. Five years later he got married to Johanna Herting, the daughter of a tailor.

The colony attracted few settlers and Roebling got fed up with farming. In 1837, after the death of his brother Carl and the birth of his first child, he returned to engineering.

At that time, canal boats transported from Philadelphia on railroad cars across the Allegheny Mountains enabled them to continue their journey to Pittsburgh. The expensive hemp rope up to 7 centimeters thick used to pull the railroad cars up and down the inclines had to be replaced frequently. In 1841, Roebling developed a 7-strand wire rope and started producing wire ropes at a ropewalk that he built on his farm at Saxonburg.

In 1844, he won a bid to replace the wooden canal aqueduct across the Allegheny River. In 1845, he built a suspension bridge over the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. In 1848, Roebling undertook the construction of four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware and Hudson Canal. During this period, he moved his successful bridge construction and iron wire rope business to Trenton, New Jersey. In Trenton, he built a large industrial complex for producing wires.

After several other constructions, the American Civil War fought from 1861 to 1865 brought a temporary halt to Roebling’s work. However, in 1863, he resumed building a bridge over the Ohio River at Cincinnati which he had started in 1856 and halted due to financing. He finished the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, later named the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in 1867 – the world’s longest suspension bridge at that time.

In 1867, as a highly respected engineer and prosperous businessman Roebling started design work on the Brooklyn Bridge. One day in 1869, while standing at the edge of a dock, surveying the location of the Brooklyn tower for the Brooklyn Bridge a docking boat crushed his foot. Even after the amputation of his injured toes, Roebling refused further medical treatment and resorted to cure his foot by “Water Therapy” namely pouring water continuously over the wound.

Washington Augustus Roebling

Washington Augustus Roebling

As John Roebling’s health deteriorated as tetanus set in, he appointed his 32-year-old son Washington Roebling in command of the project. Washington who had assisted his father on other suspension projects was familiar with European experiences with caissons, which would be needed to complete the piers. In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a watertight retaining structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier.

In the early-morning hours of July 22, 1869 in Brooklyn Heights, New York, 24 days after the accident John Roebling succumbed to tetanus.

John Augustus Roebling is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey.

Shortly after the beginning of construction on January 3, 1870, Washington Roebling suffered a paralyzing injury as a result of decompression sickness (also known as divers’ disease, the bends or caisson disease). This condition, afflicted many of the workers working within the caissons.

Portrait of Emily Warren Roebling by Charles-Emile-Auguste Carolus-Duran (French, 1838-1917)

Emily Warren Roebling

Washington Roebling’s debilitating condition left him unable to supervise the construction in person. His wife Emily Warren Roebling came forward to help him. She acted as the link between her husband and the site engineers. Emily studied higher mathematics guided by her husband. Washington taught her the calculations of catenary curves, the strengths of materials, and bridge specifications. She learned the intricacies of cable construction. During the next 11 years, she assisted Washington Roebling by supervising the construction of the bridge.

On May 24, 1883, the day of the inauguration of the Brooklyn Bridge, thousands of people attended the opening ceremony. Many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion.

President Chester A. Arthur and New York Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge first, and when they reached the Brooklyn-side tower, Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low Arthur greeted them. The next person to cross the bridge was Evelyn Warren Roebling. She got down from her carriage and ran from one end to the other. Behind her, 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed what was then the only land passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

After the opening ceremony, President Arthur went to Roebling’s residence and shook hands with him. Though unable to attend the ceremony in person, Washington Roebling celebrated the day by holding a banquet at his house.

Pedestrians paid a 1 cent toll on opening day and 3 cents thereafter. The vehicle toll was 5 cents. A year after the bridge opened, every day 37,000 people used the Brooklyn Bridge to cross the East River.

On May 30, 1883, six days after the inauguration, a rumor that the Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede that crushed 12 people to death.

A year later, on May 17, 1884, P. T. Barnum thwarted the doubts about the bridge’s stability by leading a parading 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge under construction

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Let Us Begin This Year with a Bit of Laughter …

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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello

During the 1940s and 1950s the American comedy duo William “Bud” Abbott and Lou Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo), appeared in vaudeville and on stage, radio, film and television. This popular comedy team made everyone in the audience split their sides with laughter.

Their patter routine in “Who’s on First?” sets the framework for many of their best-known comedy bits. Many consider it as one of the greatest comedy routines of all time.

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In this following video clip titled “Crazy House” Bud Abbott and Lou Costello perform one of their most famous and widely copied burlesque and vaudeville interruption sketches. Known on the vaudeville circuit as the “Nut House,” this filmed sketch from the first season of their 1952 half-hour television show is probably one of the few surviving performances of this well-worn, and now largely forgotten, burlesque classic.

The sketch starts with Lou suffering from insomnia. Bud decides to check Lou into a “rest home.” More like a mental institution with patients in command, Lou subjected to a series of bizarre intrusions into his hospital room eventually sleeps. We get a chance to experience such classic schtick as spit takes, gun fire, and seltzer bottles.

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Wish you all a world surrounded by laughter and glee!

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Wish You a Happy Birthday James Sinegal, Co-founder of Costco!

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Born on January 1st, 1936 into a Catholic working-class family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, James Wright’s mother placed him in an orphanage. At the age of 11, his mother and her second husband Giuseppe Siniscalli (who later changed his name to Sinegal) adopted him. James took his stepfather’s last name.

James Sinegal attended Helix High School in La Mesa, California and earned an AA at San Diego City College in 1955. He obtained a BA from San Diego State University in 1959.

In 1954, he started working as a bagger at FedMart. Enthused by the opportunities at this rapidly growing retailer, he worked his way up to executive vice-president in charge of merchandising and operations.

From 1977-1978, James Sinegal worked as a vice president of merchandising for Builders Emporium and from 1978-1979 as an executive vice president for the Price Company. From 1979-1983, he worked with Sinegal/Chamberlain and Associates, a company which acted as a broker and sales representative for food and non-food products.

In 1983, James Sinegal together with Seattle retailer Jeff Brotman, co-founded Costco, the well-known discount-warehouse store on Fourth Avenue South in Seattle. James Sinegal said: “… three decades ago, a friend and I had a big idea for a small business: a wholesale store that would provide our members with great products at low prices while treating our employees fairly.”

He also said: “Costco is able to offer lower prices and better values by eliminating virtually all the frills and costs historically associated with conventional wholesalers and retailers, including salespeople, fancy buildings, delivery, and billing and accounts receivable. We run a tight operation with extremely low overhead which enables us to pass on dramatic savings to our members.”

Five years later Costco moved to Kirkland, the origin of its “Kirkland Signature” private label name. Currently based in Issaquah, it has 592 warehouses, 155,000 employees and annual revenues of $78 billion.

In its mix of goods and services Sinegal initiated Costco’s first “warehouse club” to include fresh food, eye-care clinics, pharmacies, and gas stations.

Unlike other major retail chain leaders who delegate subordinates to do the task of inspection of their retail outlets, Sinegal, even though he was the CEO of Costco, traveled every year to all retail locations to inspect them personally.

On January 1st, 2012, President and Chief Operating Officer Craig Jelinek took the reins from James Sinegal as CEO of Costco. Sinegal remains on Costco’s Board of Directors. James Sinegal radiated his quirky blend of humble, sincere and spirited aura when he spoke about his successor:”It’ll be an upgrade. He is well-liked and smart and energetic and all the things that I used to be.”

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The Rapture

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“But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36)

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The Rapture

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The word “Rapture,” a term found in Christian eschatology does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Most Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias do not mention the Rapture at all. The word “Rapture” derived from the Latin word “rapare” means “seize,” “snatch,” “being caught up” or “take away.”

In the article “Rapture what does it mean?” published in the Belgian Christadelphians’s website, the author lists several bibles that translate the word “Rapture” as:

    • Rapt: Etheridge
    • Caught up: ABU, ACV, AKJV, AMP, ASV, AV, BWE, Cath.Seredipity B, CAB., CENT, CJB, Common, Darby, Diaglot, EMTV, ERRB, ERV, Evid, GSNT, HCSB, HNV, IAV, ISV, JB2000, JSV, KJ21, Lamsa, Lit, LITV, MKJV, Mont, MRC, Murdoch, NAB, NASB, NET, NHEBJ, NiRV, NIV, NLT, Noyes, NSB, RNKJV, RSV, Rev.Mur., RWebster, RWP, Ryrie Stu.B., Sawyer, TCNT, TNIV, TRC, Twenty, Tyndale, UKJV, WEB, Webster, WORNT, Worrell Rev&Tr, Worsley
    • Caught away: Rotherham, Synaitic
    • Gathered up: GNB, NCV, the Script.1998,
    • Snatched away: CEV, CLV
    • snatched up: Orth.JBC, Wyc
    • be seized and snatched away (carried off by force): JMNT
    • Taken up: BBE, Douay, GWV, LO, CPDV
    • Swept up: Phil2007, Philips
    • To meet: ECB, Amp, ESV, ABU
    • Seized … for meeting: ABP
    • Ascend (together) to meet: PNT
    • Conveyed together: Mace

Modern traditions of Christian eschatology use the term Rapture in at least two senses; as a general synonym for the final resurrection, and in the view of pre-tribulationists, where a group of people would be left behind on earth after the events mentioned in Matthew about “The Coming of the Son of Man”:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

During Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica along with Silvanus and Timothy, a doubt arose among the Thessalonians about the fate of those Christians who would die before the return of Christ. Would they miss the glorious events of Christ’s second coming and the resurrection? Paul assuaged their fears. He assured them that God would save those who had already died, as well as those still living with these words:

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Here are some passages from the New Testament that describe the resurrection of the dead, and gathering in of the faithful when Jesus comes again: (Matthew 16:27, 24:29-31, 25:31-32, 26:64, Mark 12:18-27, 13:26-27, Luke 17:26-35, John 5:21, 5:28-29, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 6:14, 15:12-32, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:4, 2 Peter 3:8-10, Revelation 1:7).

These passages use various descriptions and images to describe wondrous events that we cannot fully fathom (1 Corinthians 2:6-10, 13:9-12).

None of these passages depicts the image of the faithful caught up in the clouds, and meeting the Lord in the air nor did Paul use that description again in his later writings.

A few years after the crucifixion of Jesus up to the present day countless groups and people have compared the events of their time to Bible prophecies, and concluded that Jesus would be returning soon. Some even set a date for the Rapture and led their followers into the deserts, to the mountains, and into the wilderness, to await the Rapture. Though every one of those predictions turned out wrong, that has not deterred people from making modern-day predictions that Jesus will be returning soon. Most mainstream Bible scholars, however, do not think current world affairs are evidence of the imminent return of Christ.

Even so, we still do come across certain Christians who believe in the Rapture as the centerpiece of the second coming of Jesus – a glorious, dramatic event with Jesus appearing and literally taking the believers physically along with him up into the sky. Among these Christians, there are several theories about the timing of the Rapture.

In recent years, the Rapture and the second coming of Christ have spawned a lucrative industry. Besides the many books written on this subject, there are thousands of self-styled television evangelists with websites, radio stations, lecture series, audio recordings, videotapes and other Paraphernalia. Many of these accouterments feature imaginative and vivid embellishments of the Bible prophecies, and not surprisingly, in most cases properly classified as fiction, and not as Bible prophecy.

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“Value Has a Value Only If Its Value Is Valued” – Brian G. Dyson

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Mr. Brian G. Dyson joined The Coca-Cola Company in Venezuela in 1959. He served the Company for 35 years up to his retirement in 1984. He worked for many years in South America, the Caribbean islands and Mexico; and  held various executive-level positions in the Company.

Brian G. Dyson – Former CEO of Coca-Cola

Br1an G. Dyson – Former CEO of Coca-Cola

In 1978, Coca-Cola USA, the Company’s US soft drink division appointed him as their President.

In 1983, Mr. Dyson, named President of Coca-Cola North America, took on the responsibility for Coca-Cola Company’s entire North American business; and in 1986, the mantle of president and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises fell on him.

Though he retired from the Coca-Cola Company in 1994, he remained active as a consultant to the Company.

On September 6, 1996, Mr. Dyson gave the following succinct speech at the Georgia Tech 172nd Commencement Address.

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends and have proper rest. Value has a value only if its value is valued.”

In August 2001, Mr. Dyson came out of retirement. He accepted the position of Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of The Coca-Cola Company.

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December 20, 1803: The Day Louisiana Was Bought for a Song

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“Let the Land rejoice, for you have bought Louisiana for a Song.” - Gen. Horatio Gates to President Thomas Jefferson, July 18, 1803

“Never did the united states grab so much for so little.” – Henry Adams

French Tricolor Flag - 1803

French Tricolor Flag – 1803

US Flag of 15 stars - 1803

US Flag of 15 stars – 1803

“Vente de la Louisiane” or “Sale of Louisiana” also known as “The Louisiana Purchase” considered the greatest real estate deal in history took place on December 20, 1803.

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 (marked in green).

Louisiana has a long rich history. Native Americans settled there first, and then it became the mainspring of an empire, and finally it got incorporated into the United States. Various cultures: Native American, French, Spanish, the Caribbean, African, and the English influenced Louisiana, evolving it into a region of exuberant and intrinsic blend of ethnicity.

In 1528, a Spanish expedition led by Panfilo de Narváez  were the first European to visit Louisiana. They located the mouth of the Mississippi River.

When the first Europeans set foot in this region many native groups inhabited there such as: Acolapissa, Adai, Appalousa, Atakapa, Avoyel, Bayougoula, Caddo, Chawasha, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Houma, Koroa, Nakasa, Natchitoches, Natchez, Okelousa, Ouachita, Quinipissa-Mougoulacha, Taensa, Tangipahoa, Tunica, Washa, Yagenechito, Yatasi.

In 1542, another Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto ventured into the north and west of the region where they encountered the Caddo and Tunica groups. In 1543, they followed the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico. As they drifted along the river, hostile tribes besieged them. The natives followed their boats in large canoes. Continually shooting arrows they killed 11 Spaniards and wounded many more.

Gradually, Europeans lost interest in Louisiana until the late 17th century, when sovereign, religious and commercial aims surfaced once again. The French established their first settlements, on the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast, and claimed a vast region of North America. France then set out to establish a commercial empire and a nation under the French rule that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada.

In 1682, the French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor France’s King Louis XIV. In 1699, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, a French military officer from Canada establised the first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas, at what is now Ocean Springs, Mississippi, near Bilox.

The French explored the Mississippi River valley and established scattered settlements in the region. By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the modern United States than any other European power. The French colony of Louisiana originally claimed all the land on both sides of the Mississippi River and north to French territory in Canada.

The following present-day states were part of the then vast tract of Louisiana: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

In 1719, two ships, the Duc du Maine and the Aurore, arrived in New Orléans, carrying the first African slaves to Louisiana. From 1718 to 1750, transportation of thousands of Africans to Louisiana from the Senegambian coast, the west African region of the interior of modern Benin, and from the coast of modern Angola took place. The  influx of slaves from Africa strongly shaped the Louisiana Creole culture.

Having suffered damaging defeats in the Seven Years’ War against the British, the French wanted to prevent losing its Louisiana territory and the city of New Orléans to them. So in 1762, King Louis XV of France ceded the French American territory west of the Mississippi River to his cousin, King Carlos II of Spain by the Treaty of Paris of 1763. However, in 1763, France transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain.

Napoleon in his study

Napoléon Bonaparte

At the end of the 18th century, Napoleon Bonaparte after grabbing the French throne looked westward to enlarge his empire. In 1800, the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso between Spain and France gave the son-in-law of King of Spain power over Tuscany in trade for returning the Louisiana Territory to French control.

Thomas Jefferson Painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1800

Thomas Jefferson (Painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1800).

After about two years, the United States government discovered the re-transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France. At this time, the Mississippi River had become the chief trading route for goods shipped between the states it bordered. President Thomas Jefferson sought to acquire New Orléans because of its vital geographic position at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The acquisition would ensure its right to sail its vessels down the Mississippi River through Spanish territory, and unload goods at New Orléans for shipment to the Atlantic coast and Europe.

In 1801, President Jefferson sent Robert Livingston to France to negotiate the sale of New Orléans; but Napoleon refused to sell the city.

In early 1803, the French commander Vicomte de Rochambeau lost a fierce battle in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). This battle consumed much-needed resources and also cut off the French connection to the ports on the southern coast of North America.

Napoleon realized that France did not have a strong enough navy to maintain control of its lands far away from home separated by the Atlantic ocean. Napoleon’s sole aim was to consolidate his resources to conquer England. To raise funds for the troops and materials to wage an effective war against England, he decided to sell the French territories in North America.

Again in early 1803, President Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to negotiate the sale. However, in April 1803, just days before Monroe arrived in Paris Napoleon offered to sell to the United States not only New Orléans but all of Louisiana.

The Louisiana territory encompassed all or part of the 15 present U.S. States and two Canadian provinces. The Marquis de Barbé-Marbois, Napoleon’s minister of the treasury negotiated the terms of the Louisiana Purchase with Livingston and Monroe.

The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; parts of Minnesota that were west of the Mississippi River; most of North Dakota; most of South Dakota; northeastern New Mexico; northern Texas; the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orléans; and small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Louisiana Purchase Historical Document

Louisiana Purchase Historical Document

The United States of America purchased Louisiana for 50 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of the claims of its own citizens against France worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), for a total sum of 15 million dollars - less than 3 cents per acre.

Upon concluding the purchase Robert Livingston, U.S. Minister to France, said of the transfer:

“We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives … From this day the United States will take their place among the powers of the first rank … The instruments which we have just signed will cause no tears to be shed; they prepare ages of happiness for innumerable generations of human creatures.“

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Chinese Coaches Torture Kids to Create Olympic Champions

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Chinese child gymnastics - 04

A Chinese child gymnast cries in pain during “training”.

The 16-year-old, Ye Shiwen of China known as the ‘Mandarin Mermaid’ swam faster than US superstar Ryan Lochte. ”It was pretty impressive. And, it was a female. She’s fast. If she was there with me, I don’t know, she might have beaten me” Lochte said.

Ye Shiwen - 02

Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen won gold medals in the 400 metres and 200 metres individual medley, setting the world record in the 400m event and the 2012 Olympic record in the 200m event.

Ye Shiwen said her extraordinary swim was the result of “hard work and training”.

In an effort to transform China into a global athletic power, the state-run athletics programs with a single-minded fixation on winning gold medals, earmark potential champions at a young age. Then, they haul those children away to camps and subject them to gruel training with its tough Soviet-style fitness programs.

Chinese Divers - 01

Chinese divers He Zi and Wu Minxia won the gold in the 3-meter synchronized springboard event at the London Olympics.

At the London Olympics China’s star diver, 26-year-old Wu Minxia became the first diver ever to win golds at three consecutive games in the 3-meter synchronized springboard. She sacrificed her school education and family life to win the gold for her country.

Wu Minxia of China - took the gold in the 3-meter synchronized springboard event at the London Olympics

Gold medalists Wu Minxia

Since the age of six, Wu trained daily at a diving camp and at 16 she had to move away from her family to live in a state-financed sports academy where training is grueling. She did not attend school. She had to dive all day for more than 10 years.

Wu Minxia rarely met her family members. Her parents followed her on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site akin to a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook. In London, they could not meet her in person before the event. They watched their daughter perform from the stands. They had to withhold the news of her grandparents’ death for over a year. She was not even told that her mother had contracted cancer eight years ago. “We have known for years that our daughter did not belong to us anymore,” said Wu Yuming, her father.

Lin won a gold medal in men’s weight lifting. His father who had not seen him for six and a half years. He  told reporters that he did not recognize his 23-year-old son until he heard his name mentioned on television.

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Note: This five-part video presentation titled “How China trains (read: tortures!) its kids to become Olympic champions!” It vividly expounds the gruesome methods adopted by the Chinese coaches in training potential champions at a young age.

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Police Say Pinki Pramanik Is a Male. Doctors Contest That Claim.

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On June 14, 2012, the West Bengal police arrested 27-year-old Indian track athlete Pinki Pramanik after the West Bengal police received a complaint from her live-in partner, 30-year-old Anamika Acharya.

Anamika alleged that Pinki being a man had raped her.

The following day the court turned down Pinki’s bail plea and remanded her to a 14-day judicial custody and lodged her in the Dumdum correctional home.

Next the police took the sprinter to a private nursing home in North 24 Parganas district for medical tests to determine her gender. Subsequently, a 29-second MMS went viral online showing the athlete naked and undergoing tests at the nursing home.

The tests conducted at the district hospital were inconclusive. Initial private tests claimed to show Pinki to be male. She disagreed with these results, and police ordered a separate government-led test as part of the trial. The Court then directed a chromosome pattern test (Karyotyping) to be conducted at the West Bengal University of Technology.

On July 10, 2012,  the 11-member medical board of Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM Government Hospital) in Kolkata, formed to determine the gender of Pinki Pramanik, after studying the reports of the Karyotyping concluded that Pramanik has 46, XY Karyotype which is common in a normal male. This came on a day a local court in Barasat granted Pramanik bail in the rape case.

A member of the medical board, who did not want to be named, told The Indian Express, “Normal Karyotypes for females contain two X chromosomes and are denoted as 46, XX. Males have an X and a Y chromosome and are denoted 46, XY. Test reports revealed that Pramanik has predominantly male features. The test reports, along with our observations, have been submitted to the court.”

“At the same time, Pramanik has the disorder of sexual development. In medical science, not everything can be said in black and white. This case has shades of gray. Pramanik does not have all the features that a normal adult male has,” the doctor said. When asked if such a person can rape someone, he said that it was “very difficult” to tell.

However, Tuhin Roy, Pinki’s lawyer, said that based on the medical reports, the district and sessions judge’s court held that the athlete is “physically incapable of committing rape” and granted Pramanik bail after 25 days in custody.

Now sharp differences have emerged between the police and the members of the medical board after the former submitted a charge sheet declaring Pinki Pramanik as being a male and proceeding to accuse the person of raping a woman. However, the doctors contest the claim by the police and say that Pinki is not a male but a “male pseudo hermaphrodite.”

Defending the police version, Shantomay Basu additional public prosecutor said, “The medical board that examined Pinki Pramanik declared Pramanik as being a male having the ability to rape. The police have filed the charge sheet in this regard.”

Members of the medical board told Hindustan Times they differed with the police. “Pinki Pramanik is neither a male nor a female. Pramanik is a male pseudo hermaphrodite. It is a genetic disorder. That’s the medical opinion. It’s now for the court to deliberate,” Dr BN Kahali, board chairman, said.

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Why Do Some Media Distort Facts?

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj
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Today I saw this image with the caption on Facebook. The person in the image is Vishnu Shresta, a Gorkha Rifles Jawan. I salute him for his brave act fighting dacoits on September 2, 2012 while traveling on Maurya Express between Kulti and Chittaranjan stations in India.

However, as the days passed by the media distorted the facts. This is one case to show why one should not believe whatever that come across their way in print, absolutely. I do not understand why people try to distort facts to gain readership.

For example:

1. The Indian Express of September 3, 2010, reported the involvement of 11 dacoits.

According to the eastern railway officials: “A gang of 11 armed dacoits yesterday barged into a compartment of the train at around 11 pm and assaulted the passengers before decamping with cash, a laptop, 33 mobile phones and other valuables.”

However, the following day The Times of India, Calcutta Edition increased the number of dacoits to 30:

Nearly 30 armed dacoits looted cash and valuables worth 10 lakh from passengers of Maurya Express between Kulti and Chittaranjan stations along the West Bengal-Jharkhand border on Thursday night.

On 13th January, 2011 I came across the following in a post published in a website:

A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey

2. On 11th February, 2012, a website wrote:

“After looting the train, when the robbers started to strip a 18 year old girl in front of him, he couldn’t contain his calmness. He took out his khukari and took on the a group of 30 robbers, alone. In the fight, he killed three of dacoits and injured eight others. Remaining dacoits fled the scene to save their lives.”

The earliest reports that appeared in The Indian Express (September 2, 2010) and The Times of India, Calcutta Edition (September 3, 2010) do not carry reports about any dacoit who attempted to rape an 18-year-old girl. The Times of India reports:

“Suddenly, there were shouts and the sound of running feet,” Shresta recounted from his bed at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in Chittaranjan. “Somebody pulled at my bedclothes. I sat up and found a number of people standing near my feet. They demanded that I hand over all my cash and valuables. There was confusion all around and I shouted that I am an Indian Army jawan. The criminals backed off and turned their attention to a woman and her child, who were on a berth close by,” Shresta added.

He lost his cool when he saw a miscreant trying to pull out the girl, about 8 years old, from the berth and snatch a necklace from her mother.

The above earliest news report does not indicate any rape perpetrated on an 18-year-old girl.

3. The early news reports in The Indian Express of September 3, 2010 and The Times of India, Calcutta Edition of September 4, 2010 do not mention any dacoits killed. However, the reports that I read on two separate websites xnepali.com on January 16, 201 and again in OFFICER.com on February 11, 2012, say:

“After looting the train, when the robbers started to strip a 18 year old girl in front of him, he couldn’t contain his calmness. He took out his khukari and took on the a group of 30 robbers, alone. In the fight, he killed three of dacoits and injured eight others. Remaining dacoits fled the scene to save their lives.” (sic)

In fact, the second website OFFICER.com just copied the news from xnepali.com and published the news without even changing a punctuation mark.

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